‘Jeopardy’ Star James Holzhauer Loves Sports Betting
James Holzhauer has made a name for himself in recent weeks as the biggest game show star since Ken Jennings, and it turns out that Jeopardy isn’t the only place the young player likes to win big money, as TMZ reports. On Tuesday, Holzhauer appeared on FS1’s Lock It In and covered, among other topics, his affinity for online poker and betting on professional sports.
Holzhauer explained to the show’s host that he took online poker seriously before transitioning to focus more on sports betting. He said that he likes to place in-game wagers (typically on spur-of-the-moment predictions like the next play to be called in a football game) because oddsmakers don’t have enough time to set accurate handicaps, which Holzhauer says can give him an advantage.
“There are times when you’ll only have one or two seconds to decide if you’re going to bet on something and you need to be decisive,” he said. “You need to do math quickly in your head.”
Holzhauer also said that he enjoys proposition bets, non-traditional wagers on things like how many wins the number one seed in the NCAA basketball tournament is going to get. He said that those types of bets are among his favorite to make, pointing out that essentially such predictions are “pure math.”
Aside from his gambling habits, Holzhauer was asked which NFL player’s style his approach to Jeopardy most resembled.
“I think if you’re talking about Jeopardy style, I’m not afraid to throw the deep ball, even if it might get picked off, so Deshaun Watson I think would be the best comparison,” he said, referring to the up-and-coming 23-year-old quarterback for the Houston Texans.
Note to self: start worrying in about fifty shows pic.twitter.com/hInpdOC0oX
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) May 4, 2019
Holzhauer’s gambling streak seems to be playing as much a part in his Jeopardy success as his trivia knowledge, with his success so far due in no small part to his strategically aggressive wagering and clue selection throughout the game. Since becoming a contestant last month, he is now entering a two-week hiatus after 22 consecutive wins.
Holzhauer has racked up an eye-popping $1.6 million in Jeopardy winnings and some of that money has found it’s way to charitable causes. Holzhauer says that he has so far made contributions to the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, a local Ronald McDonald House, and the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Uproxx reports.
The executive director of the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, which is a favorite of Holzhauer and his family, says that the $10,000 donation they received will be used for animal care and to fund admission costs for low-income visitors.
